The defense team of former President Rodrigo Duterte has submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) the findings of the medical experts it hired to corroborate its longstanding claim that the 80-year-old defendant was “emaciated, infirm and incapacitated,” thereby warranting his interim release.
In a 12-page submission dated 9 January, Duterte’s lead lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, told the court his client no longer had the capacity to function “without constant assistance” and was too weak to “actualize the risk factors under Article 58(1)(b) of the Rome Statute,” which outlines the grounds for his continued detention.
This latest appeal marked the defense’s nth bid for an interim release following the ICC’s repeated denial of their earlier motions.
This specifically challenged the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I’s (PTC-I)rejection of their first request for an interim release in October, citing the continued risk of flight and obstruction of the proceedings. The Appeals Chamber upheld the ruling in November.
Kaufman has consistently argued that these risk factors no longer applied to Duterte and that his “frail” condition warrants his interim release from ICC detention pending the hearing for the confirmation of murder charges.
In the recent submission, Kaufman argued there was an urgent need for the chamber to review its previous decision in accordance with the court’s rules, especially given Duterte’s debilitating cognitive condition.
Under the court’s rules, the chamber is mandated to review its ruling on whether to keep a detainee in detention or release them every 120 days, or four months.
The chamber can modify its ruling on detention, release, or the conditions of release if it is satisfied that the changed circumstances so require it.
According to Kaufman, the new findings prepared by the medical experts hired by the defense would support their assertions that Duterte is physically and mentally weak to evade prosecution in case he is granted temporary release by the court.
Further, he asserted that Duterte’s impaired cognitive condition makes it difficult for the former president to pose a threat to the witnesses or to interfere with the investigation — a stark contrast to the findings of the PTC-I that denied his provisional release.
“These capacities are either clearly compromised or, at a minimum, practically unavailable to him in his current condition,” the filing read.
Kaufman further pointed out that the PTC-I did not adequately consider Duterte’s cognitive condition in its October decision on an interim release, warranting a new report from medical experts.
The ICC had commissioned its own panel of medical experts to assess Duterte’s fitness to stand trial following a petition by the defense to indefinitely stop the proceedings, citing Duterte’s advanced age and deteriorating health.
The report, though not yet publicly available, concluded that Duterte was capable of standing trial despite his lawyer’s claims.
The PTC-I has yet to decide on whether Duterte is physically and mentally capable of participating in the trial, though the defense fears the court-appointed experts’ findings may carry weight in the pending verdict.
“The new medical evidence is proffered to assist the Pre-Trial Chamber in assessing whether Mr. Duterte’s medical condition sufficiently mitigates his capacity to actualize the statutory risk factors, such that his release to the State Party that has expressed its willingness to receive him may now be contemplated,” Kaufman said.
Both the ICC prosecutors and the legal counsel of the victims of Duterte’s bloody drug war strongly objected to the defense’s claim that the former president lacked the capacity to flee and intimidate witnesses due to his health condition.
Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said Duterte’s supposed debilitating health was “consistent with the natural process of aging.”
The victims’ principal counsel, Paolina Massida, accused the defense of deliberately exaggerating his condition to cause unnecessary delays.
Duterte’s pre-trial hearing was scheduled for 23 September last year but postponed indefinitely due to the defense’s petition to assess the ex-leader’s fitness to stand trial.
In the meantime, Duterte will remain in the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague, Netherlands, where he has been held since his arrest on 11 March 2025 in Manila.